Skuit

Round 15 2014 vs Bontempelli. I think the scores may have been tied though in that one with a minute or so to go. Post-note: the couple of close games in 2014 were one of the reasons the AFL cited in not granting us a priority pick. We had a % of around .65 ffs. Ridiculous.

TLDR This is a reactionary post. I thought we played some of the best footy I’d ever seen from the MFC vs. the Cats, so being concerned about a core issue a week later is obviously a bit silly, especially considering our primary mid trio in Jones, Viney and Tyson are/were all struggling for various reasons (all of which I believe is injury/fitness related). And here goes: we have too many mids. Or to rephrase, too many pure mids, as much of our mid-field talent isn’t effective enough out of position. I’ve always felt the philosophy of jamming the team full of mids and then squeezing them all in on the flanks was a sound one, but now I’m not sure if it’s maybe having an impact on form and matches. Vince, Salem, Lewis (HB) and Brayshaw, Vanders (HF) are far from optimal imo. I get that we are transitioning still, and trying to build versatility, but is it time for a reshuffle? Or perhaps a tweak in our approach through greater specialisation (although we are currently limited list-wise) and leaving some mids out (as is the case atm with Brayshaw)? As to a reshuffle: I would like us to bite the bullet and move Salem into the centre now, and otherwise forward of the ball. Lewis to the centre and dropping back when we need cool heads rather than as a play-maker. Vince up to the wings or hovering around half-forward. Harmes seems better suited up forward also – with some kicking practice. That leaves a void in defence (where Hibberd, Smith and Wagner could be of some help if we were looking more toward specialisation). As to our current mids, Jones looks a goer from half-back and Stretch looked okay starting in defence last year (still, he needs to grab a wing and make it his own). Angus probably needs to break into the middle and stay there, and then maybe look at a switching half-back role in the future. And forward; when not in the middle, we should work on developing Oliver’s game up forward. He could be extremely damaging in the role. I still think AVB has potential but it needs to be in the middle first and forward second, and he obviously has a lot of competition. Tyson could also work here, as he’s previously been okay at finding space and leading up, but he needs to get his radar back. End post.

I agree. But the wry smile afterwards annoyed me. And Watts maybe could have been more aware Kent couldn't make it happen from where he was?

Watts did get smothered at one stage from my recollections. And then put in an extra effort defensively to make amends. I think it was with a sideways kick across half back (but I may be wrong).

Watts didn't look sufficiently gutted when he and Kent [censored] up that 2v1 in the goal-square. And after his slo-mo Captain [censored] Hollywood Stevie-J shot earlier in space. It nearly drove me to posting in the game-day thread, such was the level of my righteous anger.

Cheers rfpc. Can you tell from the numbers whether there in any notable inverse correlation between CPs and UPs generally? And do you have a stat for turnovers? Are we winning less CPs per game this year because there are less to win?

I can't work out if this is the bargaining or the acceptance stage . . .

Jones has been playing exceptionally well up until today, Tyson missed a chunk of preseason injured and has been historically slow to get rolling, and Vince's form has been mostly down for a fair while now. 'And no players going better' is simply incorrect. Any decent thesis you may have wished to raise is lost right here.

Anyways. Four of our last five losses (the fifth being the dead-rubber vs. the Cats 16’) have seen us go down with a greater i50 count and equal or more scoring shots (two of the best predictors of outcome for fairly obvious reasons). I’m not sure exactly what to read into that, but I suspect it's why Roos and now Goodwin have seemed relatively unfazed with the direction of their young charges after a loss like this.

Compared to who?

Fine. I'll bite. Surely you're just stirring? Some very important contested grabs on the wing today in the absence of a roaming tall and is kicking the clutch goals when we need them.

Heavy forward press = more scoring shots + easier goals out the back.

'Bernie Vince at the Finish' may be a fairer thread title. And there is a reasonable body of evidence that he lacks offensive and defensive composure at the pointy-end. Not just in this and the GC game, but I recall on several other occasions in close matches as well. That said: he's not a true back-flanker, and his midfield extract-and-hack style no longer suits our game-style. I would prefer to see him hovering around half-forward, but there is probably a reasonable case to be made that he won't be going much further for positional squeeze. Unfortunately, Lewis could be heading this way as well. Too much young, future talent concentrated in the middle and not enough mids who can play well enough on the forward and back flanks. Although, he also had a toe-nail ripped off last week - that certainly hurts, and I wouldn't want to be kicking a football straight after without some serious pain-killers.

Also, if Goodwin thinks it's playing a part in his form, he could easily reduce some of the added responsibilities without making a big fuss about it.

Send him in for a full-body scan. He's probably carrying multiple fractures and hemorrhaging internal organs that he doesn't know about.

Garlett - 3 goals. Probably not worth a mention.

Oh my. It was probably Coopers and we nearly ended up with another Energy Watch on our hands right before the start of the season. Would make sense to hold off the announcement for a few weeks.

A Coke deal may be better suited to the Suns.

You forgot Saty's photo-credit.

What? Osk makes no sense at all. The players should just stick with Ozzie like literally everyone else calls him.

Irish actually. To be Brayshaw, to be Brayshaw. I'll see myself out.

Contrary to its name, this Sporting Globe mob doesn't seem to have much to offer for overseas-based members.

I would rather Casboult. He would have fit right in last week.

I maintain that I read somewhere during the preseason that Omac and Frost were competing directly for a spot (I'm pretty sure it was from an official source but someone could well have made it up on here). But if that is the case, it may be as simple as Omac having been given a block of games, and now that Frost is fit it's his turn to see who suits up best.

You mean to get another lesson from an AA ruckman in Sanderlands?